Revealed: World Cup TV Pricing Slashed, 4K + Full HD

Harvey Norman has just released its World Cup TV promotion catalogue featuring 4K (UHD) and Full HD TVs from the likes of Samsung, Sony and LG, on top of PVR's, soundbars and surround sound systems.

And they're a far cry from the huge asking prices for OLED, UHD TV's a year ago, although in typical Harvey style, are still pricier than rivals like Bing Lee, JB Hi-Fi, Dick Smith, also running promos at the moment. Tech retailers are all anticipating big pre- World Cup demand for AV and big screen TV's.

Ultra High Definition TV's known as 4K pricing has taken a tumble and so have Full HD TV's.

The cheapest Full HD TV LED LCD of the big brands at Harvey Norman is a Samsung 40" for $1098, while an LG 50" is $1347. However, JB Hi-Fi is selling the same LG set for $200 less, and is also $50 cheaper than Harvey's at Bing Lee. However, Harvey's are offering free delivery and installation on most 50" plus TV's.

If you want something bigger, JB are selling a 60" LG 1080p TV for $2098 as part of its stocktake clearance.

Dick Smith too undercut Harvey's pricing by $200 on a 48" Samsung Full HD TV, which the latter is asking $1195 for.

As major sponsor of World Cup 2014, Sony are also pushing their BRAVIA TV's hard and are giving away a free PS4 with select 4K and Full HD models, at all major retailers. However, Sony definitely are not the cheapest of the lot.

4K

Meanwhile, if 4K Ultra High Definition is your thing, a LG's new 55" UHD TV with Web OS now costs circa $3000.

Less well known brand Hisense 65" UHD TV is selling for under $3000.

Considering there is still hardly any 4K content, its little wonder Full HD TVs are still being heavily marketed, by all the big retailers. Ultra High Def is four times the resolution of a Full HD TV.

These 4K TV prices are a far cry from the $9999- $16999 pricing charged for 4K TVs a year ago. LG's first 84" 4K TV was $16,999, but later dropped the price of both 55" and 65" UHD TV's to $4,999 and $7,499.

Curved + 4K

Harvey Norman World Cup promo is competitive on Samsung's new Curved UHD TV - under $4874 for a 55" and a 55" Full HD Curved TV for $3688.

These slightly curved sets are meant to allow for better viewing angles compared to flat screens, a technology Samsung is championing ahead of OLED, which is being pushed by rivals LG.

The larger Samsung 65" 4K Curved TV is priced at $6874 at Harvey's, but you can get the same set for $6499 at the Good Guys (UA55F9000AM). A smaller LG 55" Curved OLED is $5999.

Retailers are also betting on high soundbar demand ahead of Rio 2014.

Harvey Norman is selling a slew of soundbars from Yamaha, Samsung and Sony, although Samsung's HWH 751 and Philips 'Fidelio' comes out the priciest of the lot both costing over $850.

It also selling other Samsung Sound audio gear - like M7 wireless audio speaker for $498, priced higher than the popular Sonos Play 3 speaker system.

Dick Smith too has a Rio promotion running with some decent bargains, offering everything from big screen TV's including the 48" Samsung 1080p TV for $999, to Apple TV for $99 and Samsung 7" Tab 3 tablet for $199 and Sony 2.1CH SoundBar (HTCT60BT) for $248.